review // hamilton beach iron (with giveaway!)

Not too long ago, I received an email from someone at Hamilton Beach. They told me that it may seem strange, but that they are a little obsessed with irons. I emailed back and told them that it was perfectly normal to feel this way about irons. Or perhaps, if it's not normal, they had at least found a fellow iron-lover. In a previous post I wrote about how enchanting I find ironing to be, especially when it comes to crafting.

And so, since they were so excited about their new Durathon iron, I decided to check it out for myself. Full disclosure: the fact that one of my siblings used my previous iron on Perler beads WITHOUT the protective paper (!!!) did get me extra excited about trying the iron that Hamilton Beach wanted to send me. That said, all opinions are my own.

First things first. I really like the way this iron looks. Is that silly? Maybe. But these things count! While we're on aesthetics, the Durathon looks and feels like a big iron. And compared to the one I was using (not the Perler bead one), it is considerably larger. I'll get to one of the reasons for this later, but I will say that the heft is very nice for pressing things with less effort.

This is the first iron I've used that has an electronic temperature setting. Since I often forget to change the setting for different fabrics (though I'm usually working with linen, cotton or wool, so the difference isn't huge), I really like how obvious this panel is. In fact, when you plug in the iron, it's automatically off, and you need to choose your setting to turn it on. Then, the light blinks until the iron is fully heated. Ah...technology!

These days, most of my iron use is in pressing seams open. I use the highest setting, but generally without steam. The seams on these little blocks had been pressed to one side already, but I changed my mind after receiving some advice, and wanted them open. Even without the steam, I was able to adequately open them.

I think this was partly due to the shape of the baseplate. At first I wasn't so sure about this shape because of how it curves in a little before coming to a point, but that narrow front made working with the seams very easy. Speaking of the baseplate, Hamilton Beach tells me that this comes with a 10-year warranty on the plate. That's unheard of and very impressive!

But this is my favorite part. You know how I said that there was a reason this iron looked larger than others? It's because it has a retractable cord! Oh my goodness! This feels revolutionary! No longer am I waiting for the iron to cool down so I can sloppily wrap the cord around it. You know, because that's so good for your iron and cord. Now with one touch of a button the whole thing coils itself into the base of the iron.

And they thought it was unusual to be obsessed with an iron.

Definitely expect to see more of my new Durathon showing up in posts. The more I get hooked on quilting and sewing, I know that I'll be ironing more too!

Now, how would you like a chance to own a Durathon? Hamilton Beach has very graciously offered up one of these fantastic irons to one very lucky reader!

You can enter below using Rafflecopter (if you're reading in a blog reader or via email you'll need to come to the actual blog), by leaving a comment, tweeting about the giveaway, or liking Hamilton Beach on Facebook (I'm not on Facebook, but I did hop over there and saw lots of good things, including yummy recipes!). Or hey! How about all three?!?

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Good luck to all who enter! And thank you to Hamilton Beach for the giveaway, the iron I got to review, and for the superior pressing power!